Why is it that our roads are so lumpy? Can't the government build a proper road?

Paul H

Well I'm afraid it all comes down to one thing.... money! Look at Germany, for example, a country famous for (and extremely proud of) their uber-smooth super fast highways - first of all, the concrete they use is nearly16" thick giving their roads a 50+ year lifespan versus the barely 8" thick, 20 year lifespan used for US roads. Also, in Germany, when there is a pothole or crack, the Germans replace the entire section, from joint to joint, and pour all new concrete; here in America we start by throwing a little black-top at it, and maybe in a few years the road will be resurfaced and the crack will be covered up. Obviously, not an effective long-term solution, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than how they do things in Germany. How come we do it this way? Because while we pay $90 bucks to renew our license plates each year, the Germans pay over $1,500.00. Also, right now gas in the US is just around $2.20 a gallon, in Germany it's over $6.00 - almost all of it pure tax. The reason they pay so much... to maintain those beautiful roads! Unfortunately, nowhere in the world is there a "free lunch"; EVERYTHING costs money. Could you picture in the US paying $1,500.00 a year to renew your license plate? Well our Government doesn't think that would work either so it's a trade off... less money, less quality of roads. Besides, all the car manufactures from America, Europe and Asia already know all about our roads and have given us the solution... softer suspension systems!

roady42

If you live in cold country and it isn't desert, I know why.

When moisture in the ground freezes it expands.
This expanding underground produces the "frost heaves" you are talking about.
To avoid this, they would have to build roads below the frost line, which is completely impractical.

dodge man

its the company's that are hired to build the roads they do crappy work sometimes,but the government pays them,and that's why they take their time building roads,and each county or city is usually responsible for keeping certain parts of the road s up,and they usually do a bad job of doing this,but you would think they would see to it that the roads were built a lot better,after all its our tax dollars that are responsible for building them ,good luck i hope this help,s.

pkp_rc

No matter what kind of surface you use for your roads, it will have an inherent service life before it will need to be replaced. That's just the nature of beast. Even with a reinforced concrete slab you'll still have a certain degree of infiltration, your re-bar will swell as it oxidizes, and your concrete will pop. I suspect that many people don't realize how expensive repaving projects are. I'm going to be working on a VERY small project next summer (pending available funds) where the estimated cost of removing and replacing a 50 foot wide, 1100 foot section of pavement is around $300,000. Instead of trying to drum up the money for massive repaving projects every year, many agencies will instead only remove and replace small sections of the road that most urgently need the work. Where this becomes REALLY problematic is where you start finding a flexible pavement for the patch (i.e. asphalt) used on a primarily concrete roadway...if you've driven on 80/94 south of Chicago or Palatine Road running through Prospect Heights and Arlington Heights you know what I'm talking about...contractors have a difficult time properly compacting the edges of the lifts with their rollers. Not only will you initially notice the edge of the patch, but over time you'll also notice where the pavement wears unevenly! Blame that sort of shoddy planning on the county...leave us local agencies who actually try to do the job right out of the blame game!

notyou311

That's what happens when people scream about paying taxes. Tax money is needed to build roads, schools, bridges, etc.

peter w

you think the roads will improve when there is worker with no safety vests working in the road people not wearing resperators and for the miles they do work on the road its so dusty you cant barely see dont worry about the trace elements of asbestos in cement there is alot of people standing there with no safety glasses hard hats and some person in tennis shoes operating a jack hammer in tennis shoes dont worry about that you forgot your double puck resperator for the drive there is people up in the boom with no safety vest in the road workers crossing the road with some cutting of osha spending and you think there going to git the road down pat dont git me wrong there is responsible workers out there i thank them for there hard work and the risk they take when there out there making it so we can go the speed limit again the earth shifts slowly but you think your house is not going to move shure were making earth and space trash there no time to git those pot holes fish are swimming in with a 6 pack thing stuck to them the sholder is full of water when there is quarrys in the area up the wazoo there is like no bike lanes going in with new roads i kinda like the lumbs in the road it kinda ads a great beat to the vehicle then there running that dry saw with no wet method its not bad but its not good

XenonAudio

You have to keep in mind that roads do take a beating. Millions of tires, many seasons of heat and cold make the road flex no matter how well it's built. There are always trade-offs as to the
different road materials being used. For example, asphalt is most commonly used because of its relative in-expense and smooth surface. However, it doesn't last too long before repaving is necessary. Cement, on the other hand, lasts for decades, but takes longer to cure, is not as smooth and quiet, can be bright on sunny days, and is very expensive.

Hopefully, they are working on a material that works better all around. It's really all about money -unfortunately.

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bobo383

It's possible, but pricey. You would not want to pay for a 14" thick reinforced concrete slab road -- essentially a bridge, floating over the ground.

ankitha

why is our roads are so bumpy?if u ask this question to a politician he will blame the material approval commitee,they in turn will blame the contractor,he will blame the workers ..........so blaming continues... if at all our people realize"AROUND HERE IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG IAM RESPONSIBLE"nothing will change

James H

Its caused by weather, the heating and cooling of the surfaces through the seasons is one issues the second issue is different roads are constructed of different material and the fluids from vehicles along with weather conditions have an effect on this. Ever notice in some areas they have road testing areas where you drive over a mile or so of uneven 'wierd road' where they are continueing to experiment with new materials to try to improve the lumpy and poor roads.

bubbles

The goverment only pays for stupid things like us paying for fat people cause they cnat get off there stupid butts! I dont have anything against fat people or anything but they need to lose a little wheight to work.

MINH H

That's a whole idea babe...the more lumpy it is the better its grip. Think about driving on a smooth and a stretched roads surface on a snow and icy days!
Also, we only send man back to moon once every 20-30 years, cars passing on road are around 2-3 million times a day, you can't fix fast enough. If we spend most of our tax money for fixing roads, then there won't be any more public schools; Medicares or Social securitity benefits; no cops or teachers....etc

jerry

why is our roads are so bumpy

â™¥queen bâ™¥

yup ain't that true yet they take our taxes..u see they spend our money on "charitable benefits and fancy dinners"

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